


Oscar Jensen, Space Cadet

by KnightOfSwords



Category: HEINLEIN Robert A. - Space Cadet, HEINLEIN Robert A. - Works
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-18
Updated: 2011-04-18
Packaged: 2017-10-18 07:40:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/186523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnightOfSwords/pseuds/KnightOfSwords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a retelling of Heinlein's novel Space Cadet from the perspective of one of the other main characters, Oscar Jensen.  I always found Oscar and Pete more interesting than Matt and Tex, so I decided that I was going to write there side of things, from the perspective of Oscar, since we see more of him.  This fic is Oscar/Pete, and I guess if you had very specific goggles, you could see it as Matt/Tex (Oscar may in fact have these goggles sometimes...  But he may also be projecting).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I. Terra Station

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This fic contains a male-male relationship. If that's not your thing, then I suggest you find other reading material.  
> Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue and official text is taken directly from Heinlein's novel. I do not intend to infringe upon copyright. This is purely for my own amusement and possibly the amusement of others. I have not placed specific citations for where I use Heinlein's text, as these usages are scattered throughout the text. If you happen to be reading this right next to Space Cadet, you will probably spot them though, and if the dialog includes Matt, then it probably is directly from the text (though there will probably be a few cases where it isn't).
> 
> While I appreciate feedback, I am writing this for fun. My general feeling is that if you don't like it, then don't read it. I posting this because I feel that some other people may get enjoyment out of it. If you do, then I would be happy to hear about it, but I'd rather not get flames.

I.  Terra Station

"To OSCAR JENSEN," read the message that had arrived that morning, "greetings:  
     "Having successfully completed the field elimination tests for appointment to the position of cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol you are authorized to report to the Commandant, Terra Base, Santa Barbara Field, Colorado, North American Union, Terra, on or before One July 2075, for further examination.  
     "You are cautioned to remember that the majority of candidates taking these final tests usually fail and you should provide-"  
    He'd read the rest later, he knew that he was good enough to pass, but Terra was a long way from home.  Not that he wouldn't happily wave good bye to home, especially for a chance at the Interplanetary Patrol.  He sighed and went to go find his parents.  It was a long, expensive trip to Terra, so he was going to need to plan it out well.  But he was getting free of New Auckland, and the stars were waiting.

    The best trip to Terra Station from New Auckland got him there a few months early.  There weren't any other cadets coming in from New Auckland that he knew of, and even if there had been, he'd probably have done his best to steer well clear of them.  He'd miss the Little People, but that was about all that he was missing so far of Venus.  The sight of stars from the port of the ship that had carried him to Terra Station had been new and fascinating, but it had only held his attention so long.  Overall, he was very glad to have gotten to Terra Station, where there would be new people.  
    There was a hotel room waiting for him, courtesy of the Patrol, and he knew that there would be other Cadet candidates staying there.  It had been in the information that the Patrol had sent him when he had confirmed that he would be coming to the next stage of the examinations.  
    The second morning that he was there, when he was breakfasting at the restaurant attached to the hotel, he saw another young man, about his own age, clutching a carry bag slung over his shoulder.  Oscar smiled and waved the boy over when he caught his eye.  When the other boy got close enough for him to speak comfortably he stuck out his hand, "I'm Oscar Jensen, nice to meet you.  You a Cadet candidate too?"  
    The pale boy nodded and smiled, "I'm Pierre Armand, but please call me Pete.  And yes, I am."  
    Oscar engulfed the other boy's much paler hand in his, "Good to meet another candidate who had to get here early.  Where you from?"  
    Pete sat rather carefully in the chair across from him, draping the handle of the carry bag over the back of the chair.  He smiled tentatively, clearly rather shy, "Ganymede, and you?"  
    Oscar considered starting back in on his food, but decided that it would be far more polite to wait for Pete's to arrive.  He sipped his tea, "And I thought that my trip was long.  I'm from New Auckland, on Venus's North Pole."  
    Pete smiled a little bit less tentatively.  He placed his order into the automated system, and it showed up quickly.  Once he'd had a chance to eat some of his breakfast, Oscar asked, "So, you want to go exploring with me once we finish breakfast?"  
    Pete nodded, "As long as you don't mind me putting my things in my room first."  
    Oscar grinned, he'd been wanting company, and Pete seemed like a good enough sort so far, "Sounds good to me.  Your room's probably near mine anyhow, and I've got to grab something."

    The next few weeks were fun.  Oscar and Pete found that there wasn't much of Terra Base to explore on a tight budget around the same time that they found out that they had free access to a large range of film spools in their rooms at the hotel, and they spent a good portion of the time waiting until the drop to Terra watching things together.  At firs they watched old favorites, many of which they had in common, but after a while they started delving into a variety of things that sounded interesting.  
    Both of them studied from spools that they had brought with them, trying to keep themselves in top form for the next round of tests, and they'd gotten into a habit of going to the exercise center together.  Oscar was a touch worried for Pete going downside.  While Oscar was from Venus, which had nearly the same gravity as Terra, Pete had been struggling a little bit in the centrifuge.  Oscar promised himself that he'd look out for Pete downside, and they'd already put in a petition to share quarters at Terra Base, which had been accepted.

    Oscar was a little bit terrified for going downside, it could be the end of the prolonged dream of becoming a member of the Patrol, or it could be an incredible beginning, but Oscar had always had a pessimistic streak.  They were leaving Terra Station for Terra Base at 1300 hours the next day, and he was jittery, but Pete was definitely worse.  
    After dinner he stopped Pete before they headed to their own rooms, "I know you're packed, do you want to watch something together to take the nerves off before we head to bed?"  
    Pete smiled up at him, "That sounds good Oscar."  
    They ended up draped across Oscar's bunk watching film spools, and they fell asleep that way.  Oscar's alarm woke them rather suddenly at 0700 hours, and they both started a little bit.  They stared at each other, from a rather short distance, then they disentangled themselves, not saying anything.  Oscar ruffled Pete's hair, earning him a light sock in the arm, "Let's get dressed and head to breakfast, we've got a long day ahead of us."


	2. II. Terra Base

II.  Terra Base

    The trip from Terra Station to Terra Base was overall uneventful, but Oscar noticed that Pete looked markedly peaked starting pretty soon after they made it downside.  Without a word, he'd taken Pete's bags at the shuttle-port, and despite his friend's numerous protestations that he was fine, Oscar had refused to give them back, saying, "They're going to the same place as mine eventually anyhow."  Pete had grumbled for a while, but eventually he had given up.  
    Getting to Terra Base had left both of them a bit in awe.  They'd both travelled incredible distances for this.  There were all sorts of people around them on the slidewalks that took them in to the station, and Oscar enjoyed looking around at the great diversity of people.  Much greater a diversity than what he was used to back in New Auckland, though Terra Station had desensitized him a little bit.  
    As the hall towered in front of them, Oscar and Pete both read the Latin moto that stretched across her at the same time, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes."  They grinned at each other and said together, "Who will watch the guardians."  They'd both read just about everything that there was to read about the Patrol.  It had been a monumental decision to make to come all this way, and neither of them had made it lightly.  There was a certain rightness in coming here.  Oscar bumped Pete's arm lightly with his own as they got to the building, they were finally here.  Pete looked up at him and smiled.  
    The ceiling of the rotunda of Haywarth Hall was a little bit disconcerting for Oscar, who'd only ever seen stars in pictures and from the view-ports of space ships and Terra Station.  It was beautiful and breathtaking, and just a little bit terrifying.  He glanced over at Pete who was shaking his head a little bit as well, "The constellations are all so different than the ones at home."  Oscar nodded, "There aren't any constellations for me at home."  
    Sunk in the floor in the middle of the rotunda was a crashed ship, and Oscar and Pete both stared at it wide-eyed for a moment.  Pete asked, "Is it?"  And they made their way over to the plaque explaining what they were seeing:    
    USSF Rocket Ship Kilroy Was Here  
    FIRST INTERPLANETARY SHIP  
    From Terra to Mars and return-Lieut. Colonel Robert deFries Sims, Commanding; Captain Saul S. Abrams; Master Sergeant Malcolm MacGregor. None survived the return landing. Rest in Peace.  
    Pete sighed, "I thought so."  
    They both stared down at the crashed ship in silence for a while.  Two other boys pushed up to the railing to one side of them, and Oscar listened to their conversation with half and ear, mostly concentrating on Pete and the Kilroy.  One of the boys next to them asked the other, "See the gash in the dirt, where she skidded? Say, do you suppose  
they just built right over her, where she lays?"  
    Oscar debated answering the question for a moment, then said, "No, the Kilroy landed in North Africa."  
    The slightly tubby boy who had asked the original question said, "Then they must have fixed it to look like where she crashed. You a  
candidate too?"  
    Oscar nodded, "That's right."  
    The other boy stuck his hand out, "I'm Bill Jarman-from Texas. And this is Matt Dodson."  
    Oscar smiled and nodded, introducing himself and Pete in turn, "I'm Oscar Jensen-and this is Pierre Armand."  
    Jarman shook his hand enthusiastically, "Howdy, Oscar. Glad to know you, Pierre."  
    Pete smiled at Jarman and Dodson and added, "Call me Pete."  
    Oscar could tell that he was cringing just a little bit at how Jarman had pronounced his name, but Pete would be easier, so Oscar didn't say anything about it.  Dodson, silent until then, staring out at the Kilroy interjected, "Imagine having the guts to go out into space in a cracker box like that.  It scares me to think about it."  
    Oscar nodded along, "Me too."  
    Beside him, Pete sighed, "It's a dirty shame."  
    Jarman loudly demanded, "What is, Pete?"  
    Pete seemed a little bit startled, but he responded, "That their luck didn't hold. You can see it was an almost perfect landing- they didn't just crash in, or there would have been nothing left but a hole in the ground."  
    Jarman nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right.  Say, there's a stairway down over on the far side-see it, Matt?  Do you suppose we could look through her?"  
    Dodson, clearly the more sensible of the other two boys, replied, "Maybe, but I think we had better put it off.  We've got to report in, you know."  
    Oscar nodded, remembering why they were here, and feeling a tensing of anticipation, "We had all better check in."  He glanced at Pete, still entranced by the replicated crash of the Kilroy, and tapped his foot against his friend's, "Coming, Pete?"  
    Pete tried to be an idiot again and take his own bag back, and Oscar maneuvered him with another gentle nudge so that he could take both of their bags again.  Pete protested, "That's not necessary," but Oscar ignored him, as he had been doing since they landed at the shuttle port.  Jarman and Dodson both glanced at Pete then, and Jarman asked, "You sick, Pete?" adding, "I noticed you looked kind of peaked.  What's the trouble?"  
    Dodson nodded, adding, "If you are, ask for a delay."  
    Pete looked tentative and extremely embarrassed.  Oscar knew that his friend was upset that he hadn't managed to be ready for Terra's gravity.  Before Pete could stammer something out, Oscar replied, "He's not sick, and he'll pass the exams.  Forget it."  He was feeling especially protective of Pete because he seemed so fragile under the pull of Terra's gravity, and these were outsiders.  
    Jarman didn't seem bothered, waving Oscar away with a, "Sho', sho'," which Oscar figured was probably a regional thing.  They followed all the other candidates who were following the directions to report to room 3108, third corridor.  Once they got the third corridor, they moved onto the slideway, putting down their baggage.  In front of them, Jarman and Dodson had a hushed conversation about Kilroy.  Oscar resisted the urge to check to make sure that Pete was doing alright, knowing that it would just embarrass his friend.

    Oscar was relieved when Jarman offered one of the free seats to Pete, sitting on his bag and leaning on Dodson's knees so that the rest of them could sit.  Pete was pretty clearly worn down from the strain of extra gravity, but he wouldn't say anything, so Oscar was keeping an eye on him.  Dodson kept Jarman from leaping up after whoever had made a crack about his boots, and Oscar nodded, supporting the cooler head, and said, "Take it easy, fellow."  
    Jarman grumbled as he settled back down, "Well-all right. Just: the same, my Uncle Bodie would stuff a man's feet in his mouth for less than that."  Oscar shook his head a little bit, but not enough for the hotheaded boy to see.  
    Pete leaned across Oscar, making him distinctly uncomfortable, and asked Jarman, "Excuse me-but are those really shoes for riding on horses?"  
    Jarman looked rather flummoxed when he responded, "Huh?  What do you think they are?  Skis?"  
    Pete looked rather chagrinned, and Oscar was about ready to jump to his friend's defense, when Pete added, "Oh, I'm sorry!  But you see, I've never seen a horse."  
    Jarman's stunned, "What?"  Caused Oscar to interject, slightly boastfully, "I have, in the zoo, that is."  
    Jarman had the excellent look of someone who had been hit rather hard over the head, "In a zoo?"  
    Oscar nodded, suppressing a highly amused grin, "In the zoo at New Auckland."  
    Jarman looked vaguely chagrinned at being strung along as he said, "Oh-I get it.  You're a Venus colonial."  
    Dodson, was nodding to himself as though something made sense, and Jarman turned to Pete and asked, "Pete, are you from Venus too?"  
    Pete's reply was drowned out by the announcement:  "Attention, please!  Quiet!"  The cadet with the hand amplifier walked by, saying "All of you who have odd serial numbers come with me.  Bring your baggage.  Even numbers wait where you are."  
    Jarman and Dodson were odds it turned out.  And after a mild bit a of whining from the boy who's things Jarman had displaced to make room for all of them to sit, the odds moved out, leaving Oscar and Pete with a bit more room.  Instead of spreading out on the bench, Oscar swung their bags up next to them so that they wouldn't be sitting on his feet anymore.

    It wasn't long until another cadet came along to collect the even numbers, and they were led out through an identical set of doors on the other side of the room from the odds.  Oscar finally relinquished Pete's bag back to him as they went into the processing lines, wincing a little bit as Pete seemed to sag under his twenty pound bag.  
    Oscar tolerated his way through physicals, not a new experience since he had been through interplanetary travel already, but these were definitely more through than the ones that he had been through back on Venus.  He didn't see Pete at any point during the process, and he hoped that his friend was doing alright.  He was sure that the doctors knew what was what with potential candidates who came from places like Ganymede where the gravity was much lower, but he still worried.  Pete was a little bit sensitive sometimes.  
    Overall, Oscar was relieved when he got to the dressing room at the end of the line, where the weighing machine dispensed a uniform in his size:  underlayer, blue coverall, and soft boots.  If he passed these tests, all that would be replaced with the uniform of a cadet, completely white, but otherwise much the same.  
    He had been waiting for a bit when a voice called out "Jensen!" from the doors on the other side of the room.  He strode over, and was led down a hallway to an office.  A young man in plain clothes pushed up his glasses and looked at Oscar from across a desk.  He smiled and said, "Hello there Oscar Jenson, sit down, sit down.  I'm Jermiah Owens, good to meet you."  
    Oscar settled slightly awkwardly into the seat, saying, "Nice to meet you as well Mr. Owens."  
    Mr. Owens fiddled with a pen as he asked, "So, why do you want to join the Patrol Oscar?"  
    Oscar paused for a second, identifying this as a psych exam, then responded, "The Patrol are the best of the best sir.  They get to work with the most exciting new technologies, learn about different groups, and they have to know what they are doing everywhere.  New Auckland always seemed to small, and the Patrol is about as far from small as you can get."  
    Mr. Owens was nodding, and Oscar was pleased with his response.  It helped that every last word of it was true.  Mr. Owens wandered through various questions about his family and his personal life.  Some of it got rather personal, and Mr. Owens didn't look terribly pleased with some of the things that he heard about Oscar's family, but overall, he seemed pleased with Oscar himself.  Oscar figured that there would probably some strange notes on his psych file, but it shouldn't be anything that would make him less qualified.  The only part of the entire thing that made him truly uncomfortable were the questions about sex.  He shut those down pretty quickly though, telling the psych that he had never even seriously considered sex, let alone had it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have Matt and Tex here too. From here on, you are going to be seeing a lot of direct interplay with the original work. Most of the events are going to be things that happened in Space Cadet. At the same time, they are going to be from the perspective of a very different character. Also, Oscar isn't doing the exact same things as Matt during their various adventures. From his perspective, the same events may look rather different.


	3. III.  Elimination Process

III.  Elimination Process

    Oscar was one of the first candidates to make it to the East Refectory, and he settled down at table 169, where a Cadet Robertson was waiting for his batch of candidates to settle in.  The Cadet was friendly enough, introducing himself, and asking how Oscar's day had been so far.  Oscar answered honestly, "Long," and other candidates began filtering in.  He noticed Dodson come in late, but he didn't say anything, betting that the other boy had gotten turned around the way that Oscar almost had.  
    Oscar was a little bit startled, after the query of another candidate about where he was from, when the Cadet interjected.  "Mr. Quan, in the Patrol, we never ask the origin of any of our fellow men.  If Mr. Jensen wants to tell you where he is from, he is free to do so, but it is impolite of you to ask."  
    Oscar decided not to say where he was from after that, and before long, they were sent on their way to the afternoon tests.  The tests for the afternoon spanned a wide range of areas:  intelligence, muscular control, reflex, reaction time, sensory response, to name a few.  Some of the tests were stranger than other, but Oscar went with it.  He would do what he had to qualify, and he would do it to the best of his ability.  
    The test where he strapped himself into a chair and had to try to keep his sight focused on a small light while everything possible was done to break his concentration was actually rather fun, though he didn't keep on the red light quite as well as he would have liked.  Some of the tests were clearly designed to catch people who intended to cheat.  He was willing to bet that you were more likely to get disqualified for managing to drop too many beans in your bottle than for not getting any.  He went with it though, and managed to get three in, with many many more missing.  
    For one of the tests, he got a set of instructions that took him what felt like ages to work through:  
    "If any score from a previous test appears in the window marked SCORE, return the starting lever to the position marked NEUTRAL to  
clear the board for your test."  
    Oscar dutifully cleared the previous test and continued reading.         "After the test starts a score of T will result each time you press the lefthand button except as otherwise provided here below. Press the lefthand button whenever the red light appears provided the green light is not lighted as well except that no button should be pressed when the righthand gate is open unless all lights are out. If the right-hand gate is open and the lefthand gate is closed, no score will result from pressing any button, but the lefthand button must nevertheless be pressed under these circumstances if all other conditions permit a button to be pressed before any score may be made in succeeding phases of the test. To put out the green light, press the righthand button. If the lefthand gate is not closed, no button may be pressed. If the lefthand gate is closed while the red light is lighted, do not press the lefthand button if the green light is out unless the righthand gate is open. To start the test move the starting lever from neutral all the way to the right. The test runs for two minutes from the time you move the starting lever to the right. Study these instructions, then select your own time for commencing the test. You are not permitted to ask questions of the examiner, so be sure that you understand the instructions. Make as high a score as possible."  
    Oscar stared at the instructions for a while and then started working through them.  As he got further and further through, he realized that most of the clauses excluded other clauses, making the exercise seem less and less possible.  At last he concluded that it in fact just couldn't be done.  He went up to the window, slightly annoyed, and the person behind the desk said, "No questions."  
    He shook his head, "Not a question.  I think that I'm done, I've got a proof that you can't do it.  Name is Oscar Jensen."  
    The cadet raised an eyebrow and waved him through the door.  Oscar figured that it was probably the point of the test to show that they actually thought through the instructions to make sure that they worked.  At least, he hoped that that was what the whole thing was about.  
    Finally dinner arrived, and Oscar found that he was starving.  He was sad not to be at a table with any of the others that he had talked to so far, but at least his table-mates, those that were left at least, were good enough sorts.  The Cadet in charge of their table kept up running conversations among the candidates who had made it through the day, and at the end of the meal, he warned them not to eat much the next morning, unless they wanted to lose it going over the bumps.  Despite having done the space travel thing before, Oscar decided that it would probably be a good idea to eat fairly lightly.  He smiled to himself a little bit, Pete would probably eat a normal breakfast.  
    After dinner, they were free, and he went in search of Pete.  His friend looked strained, but happy.  They walked back to their room together, and Oscar was very happy that they had requested quarters together from Terra Station.  After they had both had a chance to use the fresher, he asked, "So how was your day Pete?"  
    Pete sighed and stretched out on the lower bunk, "Absolutely exhausting Oscar.  I feel ridiculously heavy.  I know that the doctors say that I'll adapt but right now my feet think that this was the worst idea ever."  
    Oscar rolled his shoulders, which were incredibly tense, and grinned, "Hey, I'll trade you, foot massage for shoulders."  
    Pete looked a little startled, then smiled back, "Sounds good."  
    Oscar was pleased that Pete looked a little bit more relaxed when they turned in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The relationship between the two boys is starting slowly. This is intentional. While it is important to my story, neither of them knows each other all that well yet. They may not even have figured out what was going on.
> 
> Also, it is pretty clear in the book that Oscar is smarter, or at least a lot more sensible and a lot less naive, than Matt. Some of the tests that were problems for Matt, or where he didn't get that they might have been more than they seem are going to get a different response from Oscar. Also, Oscar had to put a lot more thought into coming to Earth to join the Cadets. For him, this was a long and expensive trip.


	4. IV. The Bumps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, at the moment, many of the chapter titles are being taken directly from the original text. This is because at the moment, the things that are important that Oscar is experiencing are almost identical to the ones that Matt experienced. This may change some as the story goes on.

IV.  The Bumps

    Oscar and Pete walked to the mess hall together, but had to part ways to go to their respective tables.  Oscar decided that he would stick with oatmeal and tea.  He made the oatmeal relatively rich with milk and sugar, things that he was used to only having for very special occasions, but he considered his meal relatively easy on the stomach.  The cadet in charge of the combined table, one Cadet Hendrik, gave him a few looks, but didn't say anything about his food choice.  
    Oscar found Pete walking with Dodson, looking a bit uncomfortable, but nothing bad.  He smiled and waved, and Dodson greeted him briefly before running off, leaving Pete with Oscar.  They made their way over to the copter transport to the site of the "Bumps," where they would be tested at different accelerations.  Oscar wasn't worried, he'd handled all of his space flights to date just fine.  
    The structure that held the cars looked deceptively fragile, giving Oscar a moment of pause.  But men had been to outer space in things that looked just as fragile, and the were still walking, for the most part.  Pete almost seemed anticipatory, and when Oscar asked, he said, "I'm going to get to be the right weight for just a bit, even if it isn't all that long.  Plus, this is something that I've gone through with flights a good amount."  
    Oscar nodded, and they watched the cars plummet over the edge of the cliff together in silence for a while.  Finally a loudspeaker blared, "Squad Three," and both of them filed over to where other candidates were assembling.  They were led to the upper building, and a cadet explained the test:  "This test examines your tolerance for high acceleration, for free fall or weightlessness, and for violent changes in acceleration. You start with centrifugal force of three gravities, then all weight is removed from you as the car goes over the cliff. At the bottom the car enters a spiraling track which reduces its speed at deceleration of three gravities. When the car comes to rest, it enters the ascending tower; you make the climb at two gravities, dropping to one gravity, and momentarily to no weight, as the car reaches the top. Then the cycle is repeated, at higher accelerations, until each of you has reacted. Any questions?"  
    There were a smattering of questions, and a few of their fellows backed out at the last minute.  At last, they were loaded into the car.  Oscar and Pete took reclining, padded, pendulum seats right next to each other, and waited for the techs to hook them up to the monitoring devices.  The cadet gave some final instructions and passed out sick kits.  Many of the other candidates looked terrified.  
    The first run wasn't that bad, though Oscar noticed that Pete looked strained at three gravities.  One was hard enough for him over the long term, but he gave Oscar a weak smile after they came to rest the first time.  Oscar had discovered that he liked free fall during his first space flight, and while it was rather more disconcerting between periods of much higher gravity, it was still an interesting sensation.  
    Five gravities was a lot worse.  It felt bone crushing, and Pete's face was twisted up in pain from the glimpses that Oscar caught out of the corner of his eye.  There were screams when the lights went out, and Oscar wondered how they even found the energy under that level of pressure.  He was rather proud of himself that he wasn't made sick by the whole process when they ended up in normal gravity again.  Pete looked strained, but like he was holding up.  Oscar gave him a rather weak smile and a thumbs up when they came to rest, and Pete returned the gesture.  
    Seven gravities turned out to be more than Pete could take.  He passed out somewhere in there, Oscar had been to busy counting spots to tell.  There was blood pouring from his nose when they came to a halt though.  Oscar was one of three cadets who made it through seven gravities, and it hadn't been the most pleasant experience in his life.  He was tempted to ask to be let off, but plain stubbornness made him keep from saying that he had had enough.  After being hit by seven and a half gravities, he wished that he wasn't so stubborn.  Bloody nosed and seeing double, he made his way out to the waiting area where he found Pete.  
    Lunch was a mild experience in torture for Oscar, and he was one of the lucky ones who hadn't thrown up in the Bumps.  He wished again that he was at the same table as Pete and Dodson.  He ate another light meal, mostly soup and bread, since rocket indoctrination was that afternoon.  He wondered how many of the candidates were going to be experiencing their first space flight that afternoon.  Oscar's flight was at 1445 hours, but he didn't manage to find any of the others again before they all headed out.  
    The view of Terra from outer space stunned Oscar again, though it wasn't the first time he'd seen her.  Most of the other cadets were excited about seeing there homes, if they weren't feeling too sick to care, but for Oscar, it was just amazing to see the beautiful blue and green and brown stretch that they were turning over.  The cadet in charge gave him a small nod as he handled motion in free fall well.  It was over all too soon, and they were landing on their tail in the field.  
    Oscar couldn't resist the temptation to return to one of the trenches to watch more take offs and landings.  In a few years, this could be him, one of the cadets doing this.  It was fascinating.  He was there when one of the ships went down, and he collapsed into the trench, like they were supposed to.  While the other candidates and cadets around him were praying and swearing, the only thing that he could think about was to hope that Pete hadn't been on that flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oscar isn't Pete, he hasn't had to have nearly as interesting a set of space flights, but he's experienced space flight and free fall. He's not going to be as concerned about the Bumps as someone who is a "groundhog." Oscar managed to stay in for longer even than Pete not because he has better tolerance for free fall but because he is from a planet that has higher gravity: where Pete encountered trouble with the high gravities, Oscar was able to stick it out a while longer.


	5. V. First Muster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has pretty heavy usage of Heinlein's text, as the speech given by the commandant is in it.

V.  First Muster

    He didn't breathe easily again until he spotted a rather shaken Pete, all in one piece, at dinner that evening.  He still wasn't able to eat well.  The thought of people dying like that terrified him, but he had known that the Patrol was dangerous, and he still wanted to do it.  He'd come this far, he wasn't going to let this stop him.  He wanted to go hug Pete, make sure that he was actually there, but he wasn't going to indulge in emotional reassurance in the mess.  
    Cadet Hendrik gave them a brief congratulatory speech at the beginning of dinner, for getting that far, and Oscar found himself glancing over at Pete intermittently, to make sure that he was still there.  When the meal finally ended, he caught up to Pete as quickly as he could.  They didn't say much, but Oscar could tell that Pete was surreptitiously checking to make sure that he was really there and in one piece too.  Before they got to the hall where the swearing in would occur, Oscar bumped arms with Pete, and asked, "You alright?"  
    Pete nodded, "I will be.  We made it, Dodson and Jarman too."  
    The commandant was a sight to behold.  He'd been one of Oscar's heroes since his grandmother had read the news when he was a small child.  Silence fell as the candidates, soon to be cadets, gathered in a line, waiting for the speech.  
    "I welcome you to our fellowship. You come from many lands, some from other planets. You are of various colors and creeds. Yet you must and shall become a band of brothers.  
    "Some of you are homesick. You need not be. From this day on every part of this family of planets is your home, each place equally. Each living, thinking creature in this system is your neighbor-and your responsibility.  
    "You are about to take an oath, by your own choice, as a member of the Patrol of this our System. In time, you expect to become an officer of that Patrol. It is necessary that you understand the burden you assume. You expect to spend long hours studying your new profession, acquiring the skills of the spaceman and the arts of the professional soldier. These skills and arts you must have, but they will not make you an officer of the Patrol."  
    He paused, then went on, "An officer in command of a ship of the Patrol, away from base, is the last of the absolute monarchs, for there is none but himself to restrain him. Many places where he must go no other authority reaches. He himself must embody law, and the rule of reason, justice and mercy.  
    "More than that, to the members of the Patrol singly and together is  
entrusted such awful force as may compel or destroy, all other force we know of-and with this trust is laid on them the charge to keep the peace of the System and to protect the liberties of its peoples. They are soldiers of  
freedom.  
    "It is not enough that you be skillful, clever, brave- The trustees of this awful power must each possess a meticulous sense of honor, self-discipline beyond all ambition, conceit, or avarice, respect for the liberties and dignity of all creatures, and an unyielding will to do justice and give mercy. He must be a true and gentle knight."  
    Oscar stood in stunned silence with the rest of his class as he waited for whatever came next.  Finally, he said, "Let those who are prepared to take oath be mustered."  
    The cadet who had been helping him stepped forward to read off the names, starting with, "Adams!"  
    It was not all that long before "Armand" was called, and Oscar watched as Pete replied "Here" and made his way across the room.  When "Jensen" was finally called, he also responded and made his way across the floor to take up his place by Pete again.  
    When Oscar thought that they were done, the cadet called out "Dahlquist!"  At first no one answered, and the cadet tried again, "Dahlquist!  Ezra Dahlquist!"  
    Finally a candidate pushed himself through the crowd and responded, voice wavering, "I answer for Ezra Dahlquist!"  
    It went on, "Martin!"  And Jarman, his voice higher than usual, replied, "I answer for him!"  
    Rivera and Wheeler were called in turn after that.  Then, finally, the cadet turned to the Commandant, saluting, "All present, sir.  Class of 2075, First Muster complete."  
    The Commandant responded, "Very well, sir.  We will proceed with the oath."  Stepping forward to the edge of the platform, the cadet beside him, he said, "Raise your right hands."  
    Raising his own right hand as well, he continued, "Repeat after me:  Of my own free will, without reservation-"  
    The cadets echoed him in a swelling roar.  
    "I swear to uphold the peace of the Solar System-  
    "-to protect the lawful liberties of its inhabitants-  
    "-to defend the constitution of the Solar Federation-  
    "-to carry out the duties of the position to which I am now appointed-  
    "-and to obey the lawful orders of my superior officers,  
    "To these ends I subordinate all other loyalties and renounce utterly and that may conflict with them.  
    "This I solemnly affirm in the Name I hold most sacred."  
    The Commandant followed this with the phrase, "So help me, God," but there were names and words from every language and tradition represented in the hall.  The Commandant turned to the cadet and told him to "Dismiss them, sir."  
    "Aye aye, sir"  Raising his voice, the cadet continued, "On being dismissed, face to the right and file out.  Maintain your formation until you clear the door.  Dismissed!"  
    The cadets marched from the room to the swelling music of "The Long Watch," the Patrol's own air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Oscar isn't naive the way that Matt is. He also doesn't have an annoying roommate trying to play tricks on him. He's not nearly as much the type that people would play tricks on (for one, he's a lot more intimidating than Matt is supposed to be. While it hasn't come up here yet, Oscar is supposed to be a bit over six feet and not precisely a lightweight).
> 
> At the moment, this is all that I have written. More will be written fairly soon, and I know where I am going with this, but I have a thesis to finish, and a lot of other work to do. There's a good chance that it will be a few weeks before I have time to post more.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that this starts out somewhat differently from the novel, but I kind of have to get Oscar to Earth, so I figured that I would give a little bit more background. Also, I wanted to deal with Oscar and Pete meeting each other.


End file.
